August 2009
inside of the last 3 weeks, ive moted three cars all failed on just headlights, online fee £27 headlight adjustment £11.50 . any body else noticing this trend Read more
Hi,
I get a low car allowance, and a mileage rate which is poor.
If I get a petrol car over 2000cc the rate is reasonable.
No diesels considered as the rate is only 12p/mile >2000cc and 10p<2000cc.
I am looking for a quiet, economical, reliable car with good motorway abilities and a bit of poke for overtaking a-road 40mph'ers.
Ideally, around 45mpg at 60-70mph would be the target.
I do around 35,000 a year, so service intervals would be best if longer.
I would consider a 3-5 year old car with up to 50,000 miles.
Budget around £6-7k
No turbo's as I would be looking to LPG convert it in the near future. (so a full size spare would be a real plus)
Apart from the Mercedes A200 turbo, not many cars have just over 2000cc.
What's a good'un??
I've had lots of Alfas, vauxhalls, fords, Peugeot, Ford, Citroen, Fiat, and am impressed by Japanese motors at the mo.
I currently have a 2000 BMW 530d Touring E39, with 140k on it, a 3.0l Subaru Legacy Spec B 2005 Estate which the wife uses for the baby and get a bad 23-28mpg so can't use for that mileage, and an 2005 LPG Suzuki Ignis Sport 1.5 with 70,000 on it but it's too noisy and firm for occasional 400 mile round trips, frequent 200 miles/day..
Any suggestions?
I'm not thinking of getting a 1996cc and reboring it as the company would think I was taking the michael! Read more
It wouldn't do 40mpg on gasoline, let alone LPG. Your trip computer is having a laugh.
hi there folks
can somebody please help me! i carried out an engine change 3 weeks ago on my 306 turbo diesel and have since then been trying to get it to start with no luck. I have diesel up to the injector pump but cant get anything out, the engine just turns over and over. From what i have read im guessing it is the immobiliser stopping the pump from injecting diesel. i have no keypad immobiliser. I have the later Lucus pump. i have today cut off the tamper proof cover which covers the stop solenoid and found 2 black wires to it. i have one blue plug with 3 wires and a black plug with 4 wires going to the pump. its got to the stage now im pulling my hair out and everytime i look at the car its enough to give me a headache. Could somebody PLEASE tell me how to bypass this. i can understand if you dont want to post this so you can email me direct at domonic.hatton@tiscali.co.uk. Somebody PLEASE HELP ME
Cheers Dom Read more
It has been done before.
Search:
www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=3&s...8
When I purchased this car2 years ago the AM reception on the radio was reasonable, I listen to FM 95% of the time. In the last week I have noticed the Reception on AM has deterioted so badly that I cannot listen to Radio 5 Live with the engine running, and hardly listen when the car is parked. The station is very weak and there appears to be lots of static.
My previous Focus (Secondhand) suffered the same problem, but I lived with it!
Has anyone any ideas?
Read more
I have the same problem in my Focus 08 I can listen to FM no problem but MW has interference on it worse when engine is running.
After reading this site I booked my Focus into the local Ford dealer and after sitting there for 2 hours they came back and said there is NO fault? I then asked if they had bothered to turn the radio on as they would hear the problem?instead of plugging it into a computer?..They told me we?ll we have found no fault BUT we do live in an area where MW is hard to pick up????? I then went on to explain my Father & Father-in-Law have Ford Focus 08 and 58we all live within 1 mile of each other and there?s works fine? They did not have any answer for me?????..Ford Dealer?s what do they know??I am not happy thinking of asking to speak to a Manager?.
Hi there
My Ford KA failed its MOT yesterday. On the failure sheet it said ?insufficient reserve rear brake pedal movement? and the guy at the garage said that there was too much travel in the pedal. I presume this means it goes to far towards the floor with the engine running.
I have done the following:
- Blead through all 4 brakes (used half a bottle of fluid). Front ones seemed a little gassy on first couple of pumps but fine after.
- Checked disks (seem fine) and pads (at least 4mm tread left)
- Cleaned rear brakes (inside of drums)s
- Observed cylinders to be neither seized of leaking
- Observed shoes to have 2/3 remaining tread
- Re-set rear self adjuster to zero and heard them clicking when applying brakes after refitting drums
Advisory notices were ? ?hand brake borderline pass? and ?rear brake efficiency borderline pass?.
The guy at the garage said it was probably a case of adjusting the rear shoes. I have read on a couple of other forums that the rear self adjusters can be inaccurate ? surely if I could hear them clicking then they are working, or not?! Does it sound like the cylinders are shot?
Also I heave read that the front pads can be troublesome on the KA. Would this cause travel in the pedal? I would have thought not as they are also self adjusting. Does the application of the pedal not just move the callipers a certain distance? If the pads/ disks became powdery / flexible when worn then I could justify changing them.
Any advice would be much appreciated as I have spent about 5 hours working on them this weekend and the pedal seems to be as it was in the first place. I know I?m a newbie but I have just successfully changed two suspension coils on the KA today so in return for the advice I will post a ?How too? guide shortly including the pics?
Thanks in advance!
Read more
Funny Isnt it. If it hadnt had failed the MOT on pedal travel then the problem would naver have come to attention making the brakes vulnerable to seizure / overheating which in turn can cause a hose to burst giving no brakes atall!
Hey.
ive just driven my car over to germany as im posted with the army, got my EU lights on and all that but have failed my first bfg road worthyness test due to my left rear fog light not working. ive just had a look at each side and the working foglight has a blue and black wire going to the connecter but the left side is missing this wire. any advice on how to get the left hand fog light working would be trumendously appreciated.
cheers guys Read more
I think I would go with the idea of disconnecting the existing wire to the o/s lamp and transfering it to the corresponding pin onto the n/s light.As long as the REM "sees" a load of the bulb in circuit ,then it should work (?).hth
I am replacing my company car, for the last 4 years I've had a Toyota Avensis 2.2 D, which has been a very relaxing, dependable and reasonably quick car.
I have a choice from a fixed list, and have discounted already the Ford Mondeo 1.8 TDCI ( underpowered & ubiquitous) Saab 1.9 TDI 120 Linear - Old and unattractive, Mazda 6 - Unbeleiveably plasticky and tinny, like a 1980's Datsun Cherry with its corduroy seats. and Amstrad HI FI Dashboard. How they manage to sell any of these I can not imagine.
Also Honda Accord EX GT - not enough Legroom. Vauxhall Insignia Exclusiv Nav 160 - Looks nice but what about the imminent demise of GM.
I have ruled out another Toyota, as the local dealer is a load of rubbish, when I enquired about a test drive, the guy never even lookd up from his desk, just said he hadn't any cars to show me, I pointed out that other dealers such as Audi were virtually begging me to take a test drive. . .
So I have test driven both the Passat CC 2.0TDI and Audi A4 2.0TDI, both of which I absolutely love, for different reasons, but they have a feeling of solidity and calm, which I appreciate.
The Passat CC has wonderful presence and raffish charm, the Audi has a slightly more mature feel about it, the suspension is a bit softer but both are fantastic cruising at 70 - 80 on the motorway in near silence.
I am finding it very hard to make a decision, although I can have a DSG auto gearbox on the Passat, which I have heard good and bad things about.
Has anyone lived with a Passat CC for any time ? I am slightly concerned about the visibility when parking / manouvering.
I look forward to your comments Read more
I think either car would be fine. Enjoy it when it arrives. I bet the Passat CC no longer exists when I get my next car.
ford 899cc as fitted to the fiesta mk3 to get under the road tax legislation at the time
these engines were worn out at 50,000 just like viva engines
they were so bad they were embarrasing on test drives Read more
ah, the agila i used had one of those. a mobile greenhouse with a noise generator.
hi
i have a central lockin problem with my 54 plate vauxhall combo.when i press the lock button on the key fob the van lockas as normal,but if i pull the door handle to open it the van opens without me pressing the unlock button,therefore it locks but doesnt stay locked...i am not sure what the problem is and i know vauxhall charge a fortune to repair it,i have been told by a somewhat alram 'specialist' i will need to get it reprogrammed by vauxhall.and i know this involves using the tech2 reprogramming software etc...can anyone help me regarding this problem please.
{moves to a stand alone post, to avoid confusion with the car make/model (Vaux Vectra-B) that you originally tagged your question onto} Read more
thanks for the reply topbloke..the same problem occurs when i lock it manually from the keys it just 'cycles'...i could remove the fuse and use it,but the problem is i work for a courier company and they are 'funny' regarding vans with problems,as not lng ago an employee didnt lock his van correctly and it resulted it in being stolen,so id rather eradicate the prolem fully....regards
I recently bought a mark3 launch edition MX5 and had the Mazda dealer put new tyres on the back.He used a make I hadn't heard of - 'Federal' - and now I appear to have now grip in the wet with the back end sliding allover the place with minimal provocation.
I am going to ask him to substitute them - any ideas what I should ask for ? Read more
Thanks to all who replied to my previous enquiry asking for suggestions for replacement tyres for my mark 3 MX5 - I finally ended up with 4 Bridgestone RE 050A which have The moral of the story is - 'don't put up with cheap tyres,at best they spoil your fun and at worst(as in my case) I think they were actually dangerous.'
P.S I also as suggested had a 4 wheel alignment check which said evreything was spot on.
{moved to original thread, as related to it}
Browse
Exactly the same thing just happened to my Megane. Is there an emerging pattern here, or can we put it down to more speed bump damage along with tyres and springs? Logically, I suppose those constant repetitive shocks that no car type vehicle has been designed to take will cause the headlights to drop. I'll certainly bear it in mind at the next MOT.